


Breathe into me and Make me Real

by star54kar



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Character Study, Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Missing Moments, Near Death Experience, One-Shot, Protectiveness, Rescue, Romance, Rough Sex, Starting Over, canon compilant, year written: 2011
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-22
Updated: 2011-06-22
Packaged: 2017-10-20 23:14:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/218137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/star54kar/pseuds/star54kar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul; don't let me die here.  There must be something more.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe into me and Make me Real

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been written for [Challenge #18](http://redisourcolor.livejournal.com/48246.html) at [](http://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=redisourcolor)[**redisourcolor**](http://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=redisourcolor). I've been dying to write a Gwen/Owen piece for a while now and this challenge gave me the kick start that I needed to make it happen. I hope that you enjoy it:)

  
**Title:** Breathe into me and Make me Real  
 **Summary:** _Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul; don't let me die here. There must be something more._  
 **Rating:** R (non-graphic sexual content)  
 **Warnings:** Reference to a canon near death experience, and adultery.  
 **Characters:** Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper, Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato, Ianto Jones, and Rhys Williams  
 **Pairings:** Gwen/Owen, implied Gwen/Rhys  
 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood or any of the characters associated with the television series. This story has simply been written for fun, and no money has been or ever will be received for it.  
 **Spoilers:** All of series 1 up to and including _They Keep Killing Susie_.  
 **Word Count:** 897  
 **Author's Notes:** This story has been written for [Challenge #18](http://redisourcolor.livejournal.com/48246.html) at [](http://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=redisourcolor)[**redisourcolor**](http://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=redisourcolor). I've been dying to write a Gwen/Owen piece for a while now and this challenge gave me the kick start that I needed to make it happen. I hope that you enjoy it:)

  


  
Breathe into me and Make me Real    


She wakes with a gasping, terrified sob as she claws her way out of the darkness. She's disorientated and her eyes dart wildly around her as she tries to get some sense of her surroundings. She tries to run, but there are arms restraining her, holding her tightly against another warm body, and she whimpers as she yields to their demands to keep her close.

Everything hurts. Her body aches in every possible way imaginable and, as scared as she is; she relishes that pain because it means that she's still alive. Her sense of hearing returns in a rush of sound, overwhelming her for a moment before she can understand the words being spoken to her.

"Whoa, whoa---it's okay, it's okay."

It's Owen. Owen has her in his arms and he's speaking to her softly.

"I've got you. I've got you now. It's okay."

She continues to gasp through her sobs, desperately sucking in air as if it might be the last breath she ever takes. She cries. She breathes. She can still breathe! She clings to Owen as tightly as she can manage, and he clings to her just as tightly.

There are sirens wailing in the distance and they sound like they're getting louder…coming closer. Suddenly, another voice rings out, cutting through the approaching din.

"Owen, take Gwen in her car and get her back to the Hub now! I'll stay here and clean this up."

Jack. Jack is here too.

"Right, I'm on it," Owen answers. "Come on then, love."

She's vaguely aware of being picked up and carried, and not at all aware of the ride back to the Hub. She blinks at Owen when he opens her door and asks, "Do you think you can walk?"

She nods and steps out of the car. Her legs feel weak, but she's able to walk with support from Owen and together they make their way into the Hub.

Owen gives her a thorough examination. Her heartbeat, lung capacity, and brain activity are all scanned using the best and most sophisticated alien medical equipment available to them. He takes blood samples. Everything from her reflexes to the dilation of her pupils are notated and accounted for before Owen gives a sigh of relief and announces that this ordeal has left her shaken, but unharmed.

Feeling better, but still dazed, she goes up to the main level of the Hub to sit with the rest of the team. Tosh is babbling about everything and nothing, something she only does when she's nervous and is a clear indication of just how close a call this was. Ianto offers her his quiet support in the form of a cup of the creamy, sweet coffee she favors, before slipping away unobtrusively to attend to other things. Jack walks in and pauses at the entrance. She summons up a smile for him---a reassurance that she is okay. She isn't sure if it's meant to reassure Jack, or herself, but she does it none-the-less.

Ten minutes later, Jack has released them all from their obligations for the day and Owen turns to her, questioning. "Do you want to go home?"

Of course the real question, the one that remains unspoken is, _'do you want to come home with me?'_

She thinks of Rhys, at home and blissfully unaware of the day's events. Then she meets Owen's gaze and says honestly. "I don't know."

He nods then, understanding and suggests, "Well then, how about you try it and see how it goes?"

Once again, she hears his unspoken, _'when you're ready, you know where I'll be.'_

She declines his offer of a ride home, preferring to go for a walk to clear her head first.

She _died_ today.

She was _dead_ and was brought back to life.

She remembers the darkness--the swirling, thick, black nothing that surrounded her. There was something hiding in the dark, lurking and moving menacingly about her. She was violently ripped out of that frightening place and now she feels like her soul has been dragged over broken glass. She wonders absently if this is what it's like for Jack when he comes back to life. If this is the kind of pain he experiences. If he's seen the darkness, and if it's like this every single time.

It's then that she knows with absolute certainty that she's not going home tonight. There is no way that she can face Rhys. Plain, normal, _oblivious_ Rhys, and listen to him rant about the budget cuts his tightwad bosses are implicating over a plate of lasagna.

Owen answers the door within moments of her knock and she throws herself into his arms. She kisses him fiercely, searching for that spark, that fire, that _life_ as the two of them shed their clothes along the way to bedroom. They move together, hot and heavy, and desperate. It's rough, it's primal, and it's _exactly_ what she needs!

An orgasmic wave of pleasure finally erupts from deep within her, bringing her back to life more completely than that first desperate sobbing gasp did hours ago. They collapse together amongst the tangled mess of sheets. Owen reaches for her hand and they lie there for a moment in contented silence.

Then, as they come down from the hazy afterglow, Gwen turns to Owen, kisses him softly and whispers, "Thank you."

*****

  


  
_I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems,  
Got to open my eyes to everything.  
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul;  
Don't let me die here,  
There must be something more.  
Bring me to life!_   
  
**\- "Bring Me to Life" by Evanesence**   
  




End file.
